Unusual Exploration
by karkovice
Summary: A crossover story involving the Enterprise crew exploring The Great Valley, encountering danger and making new friends along the way.


**UNUSUAL EXPLORATION**

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

One of the shows I loved watching when I was a kid was the original Star Trek series, of which I own all 3 seasons on DVD, as well as the pilot episode "The Cage" released in 1964.

Having recently rediscovered some of the Land Before Time movies and TV series, this idea of a crossover story came to mind. In this one, I take into account some of the events of the TV series where Chomper goes to live in The Great Valley with Little Foot and his friends, and has Ruby as his companion.

Seeing as Mr. Spock is my favourite character of Star Trek lore, I made him the central character in this story. I tried to hold true to his mannerisms and behaviour which I know so well.

In conclusion, I hope you enjoy this story which I find is a great adventure of discovery, as well as a story about helping one who is in need.

---------------------------------------------

_Captain's Log, Stardate 6113.2 – Starfleet Command has given us an unusual mission: Travel back in time to the past, to the age of the dinosaurs, and embark on an archeological expedition to find out what Earth was like back then. We have just completed our slingshot around the sun, and have assumed standard orbit over the Earth of the past. According to Mr. Spock's calculations, we have arrived in the era 70 millions years past, where it was believed the largest variety of dinosaurs that ever walked the Earth existed. We are now preparing to beam down the archeological teams to the surface._

On the bridge of the Enterprise, Captain Kirk had just given the order for all the archeological teams to gather into the transporter room and beam down, and had just switched off his intercom.

"Amazing, Captinne!" Chekov said in awe from his navigator's post as he gazed at the viewscreen showing the Earth. "South Amereeca is still lwinked with Afreeca! And Europe is still lwinked with AMEREECA!"

Kirk smiled. "That's Pangea, Mr. Chekov! One gigantic continent surounded by a vast ocean!"

"But... there are no polar ice cahps! How cwould that be!?"

"The climate of this era was far warmer than the Earth we know today." Mr. Spock said as he approached Mr. Chekov's station. "Plus, in only a few million years, plate tectonics will separate the vast land masses and create the continents we will come to know as America, Europe, Africa AND South America."

Kirk grinned. _Spock's obviously done his homework on our prehistory._ He thought with a smile.

"Well, I, for one, am glad I'm not going down there." Sulu said from his tactical station. "Not while there are man eating creatures about!"

"AAW! You lwack sense of adwenture, Meester Sulu!"

"Hey, my sense of adventure is just FINE... It just doesn't include man eating dinosaurs."

Kirk smiled. "They weren't all... maneaters... Mr. Sulu. A lot of them only ate plants. We plan to study those ones up close, and keep our distance from the meat eaters. Besides, with phasers strong enough to stun even the largest of those dinos, those archeologists will be well protected."

"Mr. Spock!" Kirk then said as he turned to his First Office standing right beside him. "Aren't you supposed to be leading one of those archeological teams?"

"Indeed! I am headed towards the transporter room now, Captain." the Vulcan said as he made his way into the turbo lift.

"Keep us posted at regular intervals, and Spock..." Spock had just reached the threshold of the turbo lift when he turned to face Kirk. "Have fun!" Kirk said to him with a smile. Spock simply raised an eyebrow and nodded as he entered the turbo lift and let the sliding doors shut behind him.

-----------------------------------------------

A few minutes later, the sliding doors to the transporter room opened to reveal Mr. Spock as he entered the chamber. The waiting team of archeologists were getting their gear ready in preparation for beam down.

"Is your team ready, Lieutenant?" Spock asked the Head Archeologist, Lieutenant Harold Johnson.

The Lieutenant nodded. "Yes, sir! All ready and standing by."

"Have you locked in the coordinates for the geographical region of San Francisco?" Spock then asked Lieutenant Kyle, the Transporter Chief currently assigned.

"Aye, sir! Awaiting your order..."

"Gentlemen?" Spock then said to the team as they entered the transporter chamber.

Captain Kirk had chosen to send the team of archeologists down to the area which will later become San Francisco and Central California, as initial scans revealed a large concentration of dinosaurs gathered in the area, and they'd have a far better chance of observing some of these giant creatures close up than anywhere else in the world.

"Energize!" Spock ordered.

Lieutenant Kyle charged the transporter and activated it. All four men in the chamber then shimmered and vanished into the transporter beam.

A few seconds later, the men had materialized on the surface. Looking around, they immediately whipped out their tricorders to take readings. Although it was early morning where they were at, the sun was shining brightly enough to make them squint, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Spock looked down at his own tricorder and indicated that they should move forward in an easterly direction.

------------------------------------------

A short time later, they were exploring a rocky ledge overlooking a somewhat large ravine. Spock was leading the way. They could hear the sounds of dinosaurs all around them. What they mostly heard were roars, grunts, growls and shrieks; but they have yet to see one single dinosaur.

Spock stumbled lightly as some rocks shook loose under his left boot. "Be careful!" Spock said as he turned towards the others. "The terrain is highly unstable."

A few moments later, Lieutenent Johnson called out to Spock. "Sir!"

"What is it?" Spock asked as he got beside the Lieutenant.

"I'm getting readings, but..."

"But what, Lieutenant?"

"It's so confusing, I can't tell how close, or how far away these approaching dinos are!"

The readings were, in fact, confusing. Spock felt that something in the area must be causing some kind of interference.

"Can you tell if the creatures aproaching us are plant or meat eaters?" Spock asked the Head Archeologist.

"No, sir! Not yet." he replied simply.

"Well, keep scanning!" Spock ordered as he moved away. The other two archeologists had moved up ahead and continued their scans with their tricorders.

Then Spock noticed something out of the corner of his eye that Lieutenant Johnson did not. "BEHIND YOU, LIEUTENANT!" Spock cried out.

But Lieutenant Johnson had just enough time to look up and scream as the giant T-rex that had snuck up from behind chomped down on him with his massive jaws and lifted him off the ground. A few seconds later, the helpless Lieutenant dissapeared inside the tyrannosaurus' throat and was swallowed.

Meanwhile, two velociraptors had appeared in front of the other two archeologists up ahead. Both men grabbed for their phasers, but neither had enough time to aim and fire before the raptors were right on top of them. One clamped his jaws down on Ensign Ryan Jones' shoulder, who was Lieutenant Johnson's assistant, while the other Ensign fell to the ground trying to keep the other raptor's jaws from clamping down on his head. The velociraptor was a little larger than he was, but he was still able to keep him at bay, but for how long? Ensign Jones cried out in pain as the razor sharp teeth bit into his shoulder and was drawing out a lot of blood.

"TRANSPORTER ROOM, EMERGENCY BEAMOUT, NOW!" Spock shouted into his communicator once he opened it.

But no sooner had he said this, he was knocked off the narrow ledge by the T-rex and was sent tumbling down to the ravine floor. The transporter beam caught the two surviving Ensigns, and they were beamed back up onto the Enterprise. Once the men dissapeared, the two velociraptors and the big T-rex looked around in confusion, wondering where their prey had gone.

-----------------------------------------

A few seconds later, both men rematerialized in the transporter chamber. Kirk had just entered the room. He was called to the transporter room as soon as he got word that Spock's team was in trouble.

"What happened!?" he asked the two men as they emerged from the transporter chamber.

"Man eating dinosaurs, sir! THREE of them!" the Ensign said weakly. He was carrying the injured Ensign Jones, who bore several huge gashes on his left shoulder where the razor sharp teeth of the velociraptor were clamped down just a minute ago. "They came out of NOWHERE! They got Johnson, sir!"

Kirk looked around. "Where's Spock!?"

The Ensign shook his head. "We don't know, sir! We lost sight of him just before we were beamed up."

After a moment, Kirk nodded his head. "All right! Get him to Sickbay."

Kirk had a worried look on his face as both Ensigns staggered out of the transporter room on their way to Sickbay. His First Officer, and his friend, was missing; possibly in trouble, possibly hurt; and he had to find him before it was too late.

-------------------------------------------

_Space! The final frontier!_

_(SWIIISSSSSHHHH)_

_These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise_

_Its five year mission: To explore strange new worlds_

_To seek out new life and new civilizations_

_To boldly go where no man has gone before!_

_(SWIIISSSSSSHHH)_

_Star Trek_

_Created by Gene Roddenberry_

_(SWIIISSSSSHHH)_

_Starring William Shatner_

_(SWIIISSSSHHH)_

_And Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock_

_(SWIIISSSSHHH)_

_And Deforest Kelley as Dr. McCoy_

-------------------------------------------

_Captain's Log, Supplemental – The archeological team being led by Mr. Spock were attacked by a group of meat eating dinosaurs that left one officer dead, and another in critical condition. Mr. Spock, however, has gone missing on the surface of the planet. I've ordered full sensor sweeps of the area in the efforts to locate my First Officer and beam him back aboard the Enterprise._

"Anything?" Kirk asked Mr. Chekov, who was manning Mr. Spock's scanner on the bridge.

Mr. Chekov shook his head. "No, sair! Something is interfering with our sensorz."

"Can you pinpoint the source?"

Chekov checked the scanner again. "Source appears to be a gigantic solar flare. Wery strong!"

Kirk looked frustrated. "Any idea how long defore it dissipates?"

Chekov sadly shook his head. "No, sair! Could be meenutes, or it could be hours." He shrugged.

Kirk sighed. "All right! Lieutenant Ahura..." he began turning his attention to the Communications Officer. "Order search parties down to the surface. I want Mr. Spock found!"

"Aye, sir!" the Lieutenant replied as she focused on her console.

"Mr. Chekov, keep scanning. Let me know the instant you can break through."

"Aye, sair!" Chekov nodded.

"I'll be in Sickbay, if anyone needs me." Kirk said as he went to the turbo lift and dissapeared inside.

---------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, on the planet's surface, Little Foot and his friends were walking along the rocky terrain that made up the ravine located just outside The Great Valley. Although their parents warned them never to venture out this way, they only half paid attention. They were happily laughing and chatting amongst themselves.

As soon as they reached a bend, however, Chomper stopped them. "Wait, guys!"

Everybody stopped laughing and talking and turned their attention to the young sharptooth. "What is it, Chomper?" Little Foot asked the diminutive sharptooth.

Chomper sniffed the air. "I smell something funny." Chomper sniffed again. "It seems to be coming from just around the corner." he said as he pointed.

"Is it _sharptooth!?_" Petrie, the young flyer, asked in fear.

Chomper sniffed the air a third time. "I don't think so." He shook his head. "But it's not like anything I've ever smelled before."

After a moment, Little Foot, the young longneck spoke up. "Well, let's go take a look."

"Whoa! Wait a minute!!" Cera, the young threehorn, stopped him. "How do we know it's not _really_ a sharptooth lurking around that corner!?"

"We won't know unless we know!" the young fast runner, Ruby, said. "Besides, if Chomper says it's not a sharptooth; then we have to say like Chomper that it's not a sharptooth!"

After a few moments, Cera "humpf"ed and glared at Chomper.

"Come on!" Little Foot said to his friends as he moved to make the turn around the bend.

When they turned the corner, and caught sight of the creature lying against the ravine wall in a seated position, they could not believe their eyes! The creature looked very strange to them!! They could tell the creature was male, but they couldn't tell what his species was. The entire top half of his body was an unusual deep blue tinge, while his bottom half was black. His patch of fur on the top of his head was the same colour as the lower part of his body, while his face and front paws were a sort of dark beige colour. They also noticed a small patch of gold colour on the left side of his upper chest; but the most striking feature of the creature was his pointed earholes! None of them had ever seen such a thing as what they saw right in front of them!!

They just stood there in awed silence for a few moments, just staring at this oddity of a being.

"It not moving! Is it dead!?" Petrie said, breaking the silence.

Little Foot shook his head. "I don't think so. It looks unconscious." Then he look up above the creature. "Maybe it was walking along that ledge and then fell down."

"But it's a _straaange_ looking creature! It is! It IS!" Ducky, the tiny swimmer, said.

Spike the spiketail, her much larger adoptive brother, nodded and warbled his agreement.

"Well, whatever it is, he looks like he needs help." Little Foot said as he moved in to try to wake the creature.

"Wait, Little Foot!" Cera jumped in, stopping him in his tracks. "I don't think that's such a good idea. I mean... how do we know that creature's not _dangerous!?_"

"C'mon, Cera!" Little Foot said as he motioned to wave her off. "I don't think that creature's dangerous to us. It doesn't look like it's got any claws or sharp teeth, and it's not very big..."

"Well, looks can be _deceiving,_ you know!" Cera interrupted.

Little Foot just glared at her. "Besides, if it _does_ turn out to be dangerous, there's more than enough of us here to fight it off."

Then he pushed Cera aside to get to the creature.

Little Foot moved up beside the creature and gently nudged it on his left shoulder. When he saw the creature was still not moving, Little Foot nudged him again. Little Foot thought the dark blue skin on the creature's shoulder felt strange, like a tough, coarse fur! After he nudged the creature a third time, it stirred to life. It slowly opened it's dark brown eyes and looked around. Little Foot had stepped back a little bit to allow the creature to face him. When the creature's eyes focused on Little Foot's smiling features, it immediately shot to his feet and instintively assumed what Little Foot and his friends thought was a defensive posture. A few of them even cringed back in a mixture of uncertainty and fear.

"It's ok! Don't be afraid! We're not gonna hurt you!" Little Foot said reassuringly.

The creature that was Spock stood there silently for a few moments, before saying to himself. "Fascinating! These creatures are speaking a language that is being picked up by the Universal Translator!"

Everyone silently eyed each other in shock and surprise. Mostly because this unknown creature spoke flattooth!

"Uhm... Come again?" Little Foot said.

"You can all understand me?" Spock asked.

"Of _course_ we can understand you! You think we just hatched _yesterday,_ or something!?" Cera asked rhetorically with her usual tone denoting aggravation.

"Incredible! These creatures are speaking a dialect that is discernable by Starfleet's Universal Translator. Starfleet Command and The Vulcan Science Academy are _never_ going to believe this!"

"Uhh, sir? Can you speak _plain _flattooth, please!?" Little Foot demanded.

"My apologies! I had not realized that your language skills were at a primitive level."

"Hey! Who you calling _primitive,_ you pointy earholed _freak!!?_" Cera said in anger.

"CERA!" Little Foot exclaimed. "Please forgive my friend. She's a bit... touchy!" Little Foot said with an embarrased expression. Cera just adopted a smug expression and "humpf"ed.

Spock nodded. "Understood."

"Do you have a name?" Little Foot asked.

"Yes... I am called 'Spock'."

"Spock??? That's an unusual name!"

"I am a most _unusual_ 'creature'."

Little Foot then proceeded to introduce himself and everyone else in his group of friends.

"Okay, next question: _What_ are you!?" Cera pressed.

"I am what's known as a 'Vulcan'."

"A... Vul-khan??? I don't think I've ever heard of your kind before." Little Foot said.

"Obviously, since I would be the only one of my kind on this planet at the moment."

While Little Foot's friends were muttering amongst themselves about Spock, he instinctively reached for what he was looking for on his belt pack, and felt that it wasn't there. He then looked down on the ground, and soon found what he was looking for: His communicator. It was underneath a rock; but when he picked it up, he saw that it was shattered and literally fell apart in his hand.

"What's that?" Little Foot asked.

"My communicator... Useless now." he answered as he let what was left of it fall to the ground in pieces. He also reached down to check the other part of his belt pack that held his phaser, and saw that it was gone. Probably destroyed in the fall, as well.

"Wha...???" Little Foot said in confusion.

"It is difficult to explain, but it is a device that allows me to contact my... friends."

"Your friends?" Ducky asked.

Spock nodded. "Yes. There is a bunch of us currently exploring this land. Have you seen them?"

"You mean... others who look like you?" Petrie asked.

Spock nodded.

"Well... No. We haven't seen anyone who looked like you..." Little Foot answered.

Spock pursed his lips as a sign of frustration.

"But... W-w-we're willing to help you! That is... if you _need_ any help..."

"That's right! We are here to _help_ you! Yep, yep, YEP!" Ducky said.

Spike nodded and warbled his agreement.

"Of course, the longer you're without help, the longer you'll stay in trouble!" Ruby said in turn.

Spock nodded again. "Yes, I _would_ appreciate any assistance you could offer me. I must contact my colleagues as soon as possible."

Little Foot and his friends didn't exactly know what Spock meant by that, but Little Foot saw that the creature named "Spock" was eager for any help he and his friends could offer him.

"Okay! We'll take you to see by grampa. _He'll_ know what to do!"

Spock nodded. "Thank you."

"Follow us!" Little Foot motioned.

Spock moved to follow Little Foot and his young dinosaur friends into The Great Valley. By now, it was obvious to Spock that his newly found dinosaur friends were children, or _hatchlings; _and that they had to have parent or adult supervisors of some kind somewhere. Surely, _they _would be equipped to offer _some_ kind of help to him.

As soon as he and the young dinos dissapeared around the corner, a red shirted Ensign was seen up on the ledge just above where Spock was a few seconds ago. He was trying to scan with his tricorder, but sighed in frustration as his scanning beams were still being interfered with. He never saw Spock dissapear around the bend with his new found friends!

------------------------------------------

Back on board the Enterprise, in Sick Bay, Dr. Leonard McCoy was just covering up the body of the now dead Ensign Ryan Jones when Captain Kirk walk into the room.

"Is he...?" Kirk asked McCoy.

McCoy nodded sadly. "His injuries were too severe. I couldn't save him..."

Kirk sighed heavily as he looked away from the young Ensign's body lying on the Biobed. "I knew his father! He was one of my instructors back at The Academy. Everything I know about dinosaurs, I learned from _him. _And now, I have to tell him his son is dead at the hands of one of the creatures he spent most of his life studying..."

"Jim!" McCoy said as he approached Kirk. "Maybe we should call the whole thing off before anybody else dies."

"I can't do that, Bones. Starfleet Command gave us two weeks to explore Earth's prehistory. Those are our orders!"

"Jim, that's INSANE! No group of primitive Earth creatures are worth the lives of TWO MEN!"

"They knew the RISKS, Doctor!!" Kirk said as he glared at the Doctor.

"I can understand if we were... fighting the Klingons... or the Romulans... But we're talking about a band of primitive Earth dinos who can't even string two GRUNTS together!"

"This is no different, Bones! Stand by in case more victims come in!"

"Yes, sir!" Dr. McCoy shouted after a few moments.

Kirk nodded to him before he stormed out of Sick Bay.

-----------------------------------------

Back on the planet's surface, Spock was being led by the group of young dinos into the area they called "The Great Valley". Spock noticed that there was lush green vegetation all around, as well as a rather large river running through the center of the valley. To him, it seemed to be the ideal place for plant eating dinos, like his new found friends and their families, to "live long and prosper", considering the seemingly endless supply of food readily available.

Off in the distance, he could see a huge and seemingly elderly apatosaurus grazing. Little Foot and his friends were headed straight for him. _Grandpa Longneck,_ Spock assumed in his mind.

When they got close enough, Little Foot started to run towards the behemoth calling out "GRAMPA! GRAMPA!"

Spock was already attracting some strange looks from some of the plant eating dinos scattered everywhere throughout the valley, including a rather mean looking dark grey triceratops not far from Little Foot's grandfather. Although Spock did his best to supress his fear, he could not help but allow his Vulcan heart to race and his Vulcan blood pressure to rise.

"Hello, Little Foot!" the giant apatosaurus said once his grandson got beside him.

"Uhm... there's someone I want you to meet." he said as he indicated Spock, who came up to stand in front of him with his hands behind his back.

The big dino that was Grandpa Longneck had an expression of surprise on his facial features as he looked down at the "oddity" Little Foot had brought him.

Spock raised an eyebrow in a questioning manner, waiting to see what this huge monster standing before him was going to do next.

Little Foot's grandfather simply bent his head down to be at eye level with Spock. "Hello to _you,_ kind sir." the big dino said in a surprisingly soft and gentle voice.

Spock nodded. "Greetings." he simply said in return.

Grandpa Longneck looked a little bit surprised to hear this unknown creature speak flattooth, as did a lot of the now gathering dinos, who were curious to see this strange new being that appeared before them. Spock's highly sensitive ears could hear them muttering amongst themselves with him as the topic of discussion.

"Do you have a name?" Grandpa Longneck asked.

"Spock... I am Spock!"

Everyone gasped at hearing his name.

"That's a most unusual name you have, sir!"

"It IS the name I was given..." Spock said matter-of-factly.

"Okay, Mr. Longneck! What's going on here!?" said the dark grey triceratops in interruption as he walked up. "_Who _is this!? _What _is this!?"

"His name is Spock." Grandpa Longneck said in reply. "And he's a..."

"... A Vulcan." Spock completed.

More mutterings emerged from the gathered crowd.

"A Vool... khhaan???"

"Close enough. And you are...?"

"The name's Topsy, but that's _Mister_ Topsy to you! But you can call me by my proper name: Mr. _Threehorn!_"

"Greetings, Mr. Threehorn!" Spock said as he bowed to the big triceratops.

"Okay, I'm gonna ask you one more question, and I want a _straight answer..._" Topsy said as he approached Spock closely. "Are you a _Sharptooth!?_"

A few of the gathered dinos gasped and recoiled in fear at the mention of the word "sharptooth", including little Petrie, who always seemed to be afraid... even of his own shadow.

Spock simply shook his head. "I am not a... _sharp_tooth... or a _flat_tooth, as Little Foot and his friends here call themselves."

"_I'M _not a _flattooth!" _the diminutive Chomper cried out.

Spock nodded to the young T-rex. "Yes! That much is obvious..."

Then he faced Topsy again. "To put it plainly, sir: I am a 'humanoid', or humanlike in appearance."

"Hyoo-man-OYD???" Grandpa Longneck said in his effort to pronounce the name.

Spock nodded. "Yes! Little Foot here said you may have seen others like me..."

"Others... like you???"

"Affirmative! There were several groups like me exploring your region. They are my shipmates..."

Grandpa Longneck shook his head. "I'm sorry. But you're the first of your kind I've ever seen. I have yet to meet any others like you. And you said they were your... ssship... maytes??? What is..."

"That is difficult to explain." Spock said in anticipation of the longneck's next question. "And time is short! It is imperative that I contact them as soon as possible!" he then said in a more urgent tone.

"I understand. If you can tell us exactly where your friends were, when you last saw them, I can send out search parties to try and find them."

"I do not know about the other groups, but myself and three others were exploring a rocky ledge overlooking a canyon when we were attacked by three, what you would call, _sharpteeth._"

Some gasps erupted from the listening crowd of dinos.

"There were two velociraptors, and one rather large tyrannosaur... The most curious thing about the T-rex was that he had a big red scar that ran from his left eye all the way down to his left hand."

Little Foot gasped. "That's Red Claw, and his fast biters Screech and Thud!"

More gasping and muttering emerged from the crowd.

"It's unfortunate that you and your friends encountered those three. _Then _what happened?"

"The one known as 'Red Claw' captured and ate one of my friends, then he knocked me off of the ledge down to the canyon floor below. I fell unconscious as soon as I hit the ground."

"Oh, dear me!! Are you allright!?" Grandma Longneck, who had been listening the whole time, bent down to ask Spock in a worried tone.

"A few minor bruises only, madam, but nothing too serious."

"I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your friend." Grandpa Longneck said in a sad tone. "You must be in great pain right now."

"I am quite all right, sir." Spock replied.

"You said you had two other friends with you. Did they get eaten by the sharptooth as well?" Grandpa Longneck asked.

Spock shook his head. "I do not know... I did not witness their fate. I assume, however, that they were able to... escape... because I... called for help... just before I was knocked over."

Spock had to catch himself before he said "beamed up" or "called up to the ship". Although these creature were not alien, The Prime Directive remained in effect. Besides, they'd have no clue as to what a "transporter beam" or a "starship" was.

"All right! Me and Topsy will organize search parties to look for your friends. That canyon you were exploring is in The Mysterious Beyond. That's where we'll start our search. In the meantime, you're more than welcome to stay here and recuperate."

"Thank you. That is most kind, sir!"

Grandpa Longneck smiled. "Think nothing of it! There's plenty of green food here to be had... uhh... you _do_ eat green food, don't you?"

"The only _green food_ I eat are fruits and vegetables."

"That anything like sweet bubbles... or berries?" Petrie the Flyer asked.

Spock nodded. "Yes, I do eat berries... and... sweet bubbles... if they are anything like berries."

"What about tree stars?" Little Foot asked.

"If you are referring to leaves off of trees, the answer is 'no'."

"Do you eat creepy crawlies and stinging buzzers?" Chomper asked.

"I do not eat meat of any kind..." Spock said with a shake of his head. Knowing this young T-rex's true nature, Spock assumed he meant some kind of animal flesh.

"Well, then, you'll fit right in to The Great Valley! We don't have too many meat eaters here!" Cera said with a grin.

Chomper looked dissapointed, however, as he was looking forward to showing Spock how to catch the food he himself eats.

"It's settled, then!" Grandpa Longneck spoke up. "Make yourself at home, Spock, while we go out and search for your friends."

With this, he left with some of the adult dinos to organize the search parties.

-----------------------------------------

"Captinne!" Chekov called from Spock's science station on the bridge of the Enterprise.

"What is it, Mr. Chekov?" Kirk asked as he got beside him.

"The solar flare must be deesipating, because I am abwle to make a breakthwrough in the surface scahns."

"Any sign of Spock?"

"Yes, sair! Althwough I cahn't pinpoint his exact lwocation, I am detecting humanoyd lwife signs."

"Where?"

"An area about 100 kilometers across. A mixture of fwoliage and mountains, with a LOT of wegetation... and one huge vwalley right in the middle!"

"It's a start, Mr. Chekov! Keep scanning."

"Aye, sair."

"Lieutenant Ahura? Signal the search parties on the surface. Tell them to concentrate their search on the outer perimeter of the area Mr. Chekov mentioned, moving in towards that valley."

"Aye, sir!"

Then he moved back into his Captain's chair and adopted a pensive posture.

-------------------------------------

In The Great Valley, Spock was sitting amongst a group of dinos with a large leaf tray that everybody was sharing from. In it was a variety of fruits, flowers, grasses and what they called "tree stars". He picked up a round purplish fruit and put it in his mouth.

"Mmm!" he hummed as the flavour exploded in his mouth. "Surprisingly sweet!"

"That's why they call 'em 'sweet bubbles'." Cera said with a laugh.

Spock simply nodded and grabbed another one off the tray. What they called "sweet bubbles", Spock would've called "grapes"; and they were still a popular delicacy in his time; as was, indeed, most of the fruits found on the big leaf tray in front of him. He noted that Spike was already picking at the leaf tray itself. He figured this big dino must have a fondness for the plentiful leafy vegetation.

"You don't seem too willing to talk much about where you come from, though." Little Foot mentioned. "Is there a reason for that?"

All of the dinos gathered around him looked at him anxiously in anticipation of him talking about his origins. But after swallowing his last bit of chewed "sweet bubble", Spock simply answered. "The reason for my reluctance in this matter is that my kind is a... highly advanced... species. We have many devices, as well as means of transportation, that you simply cannot even begin to comprehend."

"Because we're too... _primitive?_" Little Foot asked almost rhetorically.

Spock nodded. "Yes... however, I _can_ tell you that our culture is, in certain ways, much like your own. We like the same kinds of foods that you see here..." he said as he indicated the leaf tray in front of him.

"Most of us even like to eat meat, as well..." he continued as he eyed Chomper sitting not far from him; who smiled brightly, showing his pointy teeth, mostly because of Spock's mention of the word "meat". "though it is mostly in the form of 'resequenced protein' nowadays..." Chomper's smile turned into a questioning expression of the term Spock used to define replicated food.

"We have strong family ties and a sense of community..." he said as he eyed Petrie's mother lovingly stroking his wings in a grooming gesture.

"But an advanced culture such as ours established a rule long ago not to reveal anything that could be damaging to a culture who is not as advanced as our own. This rule, which we call the 'Prime Directive', is to ensure that such a culture does not suffer any... contamination... that could negatively affect their very lives."

Little Foot let this sink in for a few moments before saying "I see..." After a few more moments, he continued. "Yet despite the secrets that you have to keep, where you come from still sounds pretty fascinating."

Spock nodded. "Indeed... However, when it comes to less advanced cultures, like yours, we can be as infinitely curious about them as you are about my own culture. We've made it our primary mission to explore new worlds, and seek out new life and new civilizations..."

"You can ask us any questions you want about us, Spock; and we'll answer." Petrie's mother said as she came up next to Spock. "We've got nothing to hide."

Spock nodded. "Very well." Then he turned his attention to Chomper. "I am most curious how you, as a meat eater, are able to survive in this valley populated by... for lack of a better expression... your natural prey."

Everybody tensed up at Spock's brashness.

"I just eat a lot of stinging buzzers, other small flyers, and the creepy crawlies that hide in the ground. There's more than enough of those around to keep me full!" Chomper answered as he licked his chops.

"But as you grow and mature, and require more nourishment, what will you do then, if you've vowed not to... eat... anybody here?"

Everybody looked nervous around Spock and Chomper and the conversation they were having. "Gee! I never really thought about that..." Chomper said as he looked a bit more worried.

"If I may make a suggestion..." Spock said. "The large river in the distance must contain a lot of what we call 'fish', which is a healthy substitute to conventional meat. It seems only logical that you catch and eat them rather than those you've come to call your 'friends'."

"You mean the little fast swimmers that have no legs?" Ducky asked.

Spock nodded. "Yes."

Ducky looked happy. "I'm sure Chomper would LOVE to eat those! Yep, yep, YEP!"

"Sound like a good idea! Of course, I'll have to learn to catch them..." Chomper said.

"It would not be that difficult to learn... just give yourself some time..." Spock told the little T-rex.

"Thanks, Spock! You've been a big help!" Chomper said happily.

"My pleasure..." Spock replied as he nodded.

After a few moments of lull in the conversation, Little Foot announced. "Ok! Who's up for a bit of the pointy seed game!?"

Cries of joy went up amongst all of the young dinos, as they really loved that game.

"Ok, guys! Follow me!!" Little Foot exclaimed as he led them to an area where no grown up dinos were grazing. He would designate Spike as the one to fetch the pointy seed they'll need.

By now, most of the grown up dinos had dispersed, their curiosity satisfied in regards to Spock, and went about their business. Only Petrie and Ducky's mother were left with Spock.

"Every time I watch Petrie go play with his friends, I keep thinking how lucky Petrie to even have them AS his friends."

"Mm hmmmm." Ducky's mother said in reply.

Then they noticed Spock's questioning look, complete with raised eyebrows.

Petrie's mom, a rather large pterodactyl, chuckled. "I'm sure you've noticed that Petrie is a bit... different... than everyone else... mostly due to his speech problem... even a blind flattooth can see!"

Spock nodded. "I can understand how he must feel. I, too, am... different... among my kind..."

"How so?" Ducky's mother asked, her curiosity piqued.

"Although I say I am Vulcan, my blood is of two different species. I am half human..."

Both females looked somewhat puzzled. But before they had a chance to ask any questions, Spock continued.

"My human half comes from my mother. Although humans and Vulcans are similar in appearance, they are two very distinct species. During my youth, I was mostly outcast by my Vulcan peers because I was not fully Vulcan; and at the same time, most humans shunned me because I did not have the same traits and mannerisms as they did..."

"But you still had your friends?" Petrie's mother asked.

Spock nodded. "Yes. Namely my... leader... who's name is James Kirk..."

"Sounds like a nice male. I'd like to meet him." Ducky's mother said.

"I'm sure he would be delighted to meet you, as well; as well as any other dinosaur in this valley..."

"But you must've had a pretty sad and lonely childhood." Petrie's mother said.

"Sadness and loneliness are emotions that were probably commonplace when I was young. I have forgotten most of my childhood. Fortunately, Vulcan culture teaches the supression of all emotions and adopt a philosophy of logic..."

Both females had a puzzled look. Ducky's mother spoke up. "What does that mean? You can't... _feel_... feelings?"

Spock shook his head. "The emotions are still there- especially in me, because of my human heritage- but we are trained to supress them and keep them from rising to the surface."

"But feelings like love, affection and compassion is what brings everyone closer together; especially with a male and a female..." Petrie's mother said.

"But with those positive emotions comes negative emotions; like hate, jealousy, fear, anger, rage. In our distant past, a wise Vulcan philosopher named Surak decreed that all Vulcans should adopt his ideal of total suppression of emotions; for it was this emotionalism, and the violent tendencies which they prompted, that nearly caused our extinction."

Both females got wide eyed expressions of surprised. "Sounds pretty serious..." Ducky's mother said.

Spock nodded. "Indeed! But his proposed change did not occur overnight. It took nearly two hundred years before our entire race adopted his way of life. He later became known as 'the Father of all Logic'."

"Well, I don't know..." Petrie's mother said. "With feelings, you can't sacrifice them all because only a few are bad. You have to take the good with the bad, sometimes. I can understand someone controlling their fear, their anger, their hate..."

"If only _Topsy_ with do that with HIS anger and hate..." Ducky mother sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Mm Hmmm..." Petrie's mother mused. "Personally, though, I think this 'Sue-rahck' fellow made a mistake with what he taught your kind."

Spock raised his eyebrow. "Perhaps."

With that, they grew silent as they observed Little Foot's gang playing their pointy seed game. They could hear the sounds of laughter from them as they were happily kicking the big pointy seed around, sometimes slapping it with their tails. It reminded Spock of the human game of "soccer" he had once seen on a movie he saw at Starfleet Academy. _If humans had tails, they'd probably use it for this purpose as well,_ he thought to himself.

-----------------------------------------

Kirk was sitting in his Captain's chair, looking at the viewscreen image of the Earth of his distant past, thinking where Spock could be on that vast continent that was Pangea.

"Captinne!" Chekov called from his post at the science station's scanner.

Captain got up off of his chair to go stand next to him. "What is it, Mr. Chekov?"

"I've made some progress in my scahns. I can pinpoint Spock's lwocation to within five hundred meters!"

"Good work, Mr. Chekov! Where is he?"

"In the heart of that walley down thair!"

"Which search team is closest to his location?"

Chekov checked on the neighbouring computer. "Meester Scott's team..."

Montgomery Scott, the Chief Engineer, had volunteered to be part of the search detail sent down to search for Spock. Though Captain Kirk told him it was not necessary for him to do so, Scotty insisted.

"Lieutenant Ahura, open a channel to Scotty's communicator!"

"Aye, sir."

-------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, on the planet's surface, Scotty and his young Ensign partner were standing on a ledge and scanning the rocky area they were in.

"Anythin', lad?" Scotty asked the Ensign.

The Ensign shook his head. "Still nothing, sir."

Scotty sighed. "Well, keep tryin'. We're bound to find traces of him_ eventually."_

The Ensign resumed his scans. A few moments later, he pointed out something to Scotty. "Look, sir!" he said.

They both could see two dinos approaching their position. They were virtually identical. They didn't know what species they were, but they noticed what resembled a duck's bill on each of them, as well as a crest on the top of their heads that was the same colour as the rest of their bodies.

"Well, whaddya know!? I never thought I'd see some of those beasties this up close!" Scotty smiled. As a_ wee lad, _Scotty had a passing interest in dinosaurs, but he never really developed an obsession for them, as other kids his age did.

Both he and the Ensign noticed that they were watching them intently, then one of them did something that caught them both by surprise. It started waving it's arms at them, as if signaling them. "HALLOOOOO!!" it shouted out at them in a decidedly male voice.

They both stood there dumbfounded for a few moments, then the Ensign spoke up. "Did your hear that, sir!?"

Scotty nodded. "Aye... an' ah don't _believe_ it!"

At this point, Scotty's communicator beeped. "Scott here..."

"This is Kirk. We've finally pinpointed Spock's location on the planet. He's about two kilometers northwest of your current position..."

"Aye, sir! Y... you're not gonna believe this, but... we actually heard one of these dinos _talk_ to us!"

On the bridge of the Enterprise, everyone was stunned, included Kirk. "What!?"

"Ya _heard_ me, sir! This dinosaur _spoke_ to us! We both heard it PLAIN AS DAY! It said 'hello' to us!! Some of these dinos speak a language that our Universal Translator can understand!"

"Wait a minute, Scotty... y... you're saying that that dino down there said... 'hello' to you???"

"AYE, sir! That's what I said!"

Kirk cracked a smile. "Scotty, y... you're sure you didn't mistake a growl or a moan for..."

"Sir... Ah know the difference between a growl and an actual word...."

Kirk knew Scotty all to well to know that he wasn't joking. Whatever was going on down there, it was something unexpected. Yet Scotty didn't indicate that he was in any danger. Not at the moment. "All right, Scotty. Keep us posted. Kirk out!" he said before he switched off his intercom.

As soon as Scotty closed his communicator, the dino called out to he and the Ensign again. "HALLOOOO!"

When they reached a point just below them, the other one called up. "Are you friends of Spock!?" it said in a decidedly female voice.

"They know Spock..." the Ensign whispered to Scotty.

"Are you friends of Spock!!?" the female dino called up again.

Scotty spoke up. "Aye!?"

"Follow us! We'll take you to him!" the male dino said as they turned to head towards the distant valley up ahead.

"Sh... should we trust them?" Asked the Ensign.

Scotty nodded. "Aye! Ah think we should. But Starfleet command is NEVER gonna believe _this!_"

They then moved down to follow the two dinos back towards the valley.

-----------------------------------------

Meanwhile, in another part of The Mysterious Beyond, the velociraptor that was Screech was walking along the ravine floor, sniffing out prey. Then his sniffer caught whiff of something he thought was unusual. It seemed to be coming from somewhere close to his feet. He bent and rummaged through a pile of stones until he finally got hold of what was making the strange smell. He picked up what was actually Spock's phaser, the same phaser he had lost during his initial encounter with Red Claw. Screech was most puzzled when he examined it. It obviously didn't look like anything he had ever seen before!

Then he pressed a button on it and he heard a high pitched whining sound emanating from it. The sound grew higher and higher in pitch, but he wasn't sure why it was making that sound. The phaser was actually building up an overload. Then, suddenly and without warning, the phaser discharged right at him, vaporizing him and the phaser itself into oblivion.

-------------------------------------------

A short time later, in The Great Valley, Scotty and his Ensign companion were being led by Grandpa Longneck up to where Mr. Spock was sitting amongst a group of dinos. Scotty and the young Ensign were quite amazed at the fact that all the dinos they encountered could talk; or at least, communicate in a language that was discernible by their Universal Translator.

When Spock saw the Chief Engineer and Ensign approach his position, he immediately got up to face them. All the dinos around him gave way to Spock's shipmates.

Scotty was the first to speak. "Mr. Spock! AH! Are we ever glad to see you!! We were quite worried!"

Spock nodded. "Mr. Scott?"

"You wouldna _believe _what we had to go through to find you..." Scott then explained how the giant solar flare was interfering with their scanner sweeps, but that Mr. Chekov was eventually able to approximate his exact location, once the solar flare dissipated; and how he and the Ensign were guided to The Great Valley by two duck billed dinosaurs and introduced to the big brontosaurus known as "Grandpa Longneck", who then led them to him. Of course, the mention of "scanners" and "solar flares" were over the dinosaurs' heads. They labeled it as a part of the language Spock and his friends used when they talked to each other.

"Ah must say, though, that we're mighty happy to see that you're here eating fruit with these critters rather than..."

"Hey! Who're _you _calling CRITTERS, you..."

"Mr. Threehorn!" Spock interrupted. "You must forgive him, he is a bit proud and... sensitive..."

"To say the _least!" _Topsy emphasized with a bit of anger in his voice.

Scotty nodded to the big triceratops. "Aye... Well, we're just happy to see that you're safe and sound; and not eaten by a meat eating beastie."

Spock raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Indeed."

"Well, let's beam up to the ship..." Scotty then said as he pulled out his communicator.

But before he could call up, he was interrupted by someone yelling. "GRAMPA LONGNECK! GRAMPA LONGNECK!"

It was Petrie, who was flying in fast and hard.

"What is it, Petrie?" Grandpa Longneck anxiously asked.

When Petrie caught his breath, he blurted out. "Little Foot and Cera! They cornered in Mysterious Beyond by Red Claw and fast biter Thud!"

Everyone around them gasped at the news. You could barely hear Topsy crying out "Oh, no! My daughter!!" over the din.

"What in the world would they be doing out _there!?"_ Grandpa Longneck asked Petrie.

"They wanted to help in search for Spock's friends. That when the sharptooth surprise them!"

"We must help them!" Grandpa Longneck cried out to everyone. "I just hope we're not too late."

"Mr. Longneck!" Spock called up to the big brontosaurus. "Allow us to assist you. We have a means of transportation that allows us to travel from one place to another in an instant..."

All of the dinos were shocked and hopeful at the same time. They muttered amongst themselves that they'd be grateful of Spock and his friends could somehow save the young longneck and threehorn. "It may very well be your only chance at saving the life of your grandson, and the life on his young friend!"

After a moment, Grandpa Longneck said. "Now _this _I've gotta see... All right! Do what you must, but please hurry!!"

Spock nodded and gestured at Scotty to give him his communicator, which he did.

"Petrie!" he called up to the young flyer. "Where are Little Foot and Cera now?"

"They over in Rocky Canyon!"

"Ah know the place!" Scotty said. "That's where we were focusing our search."

Spock opened the communicator. "Enterprise, Transporter room!"

"Transporter Room..." came the voice of Lieutenant Kyle.

"Lieutenant! Please beam myself, Mr. Scott and the Ensign accompanying him to the rocky ravine located at... What are the coordinates, Mr. Scott?"

Scotty opened his tricorder. "Latitude: 160 Degrees! Longitude: 40 Degrees!"

"Did you get that, Mr. Kyle?"

"Yes, sir. It's good to hear your voice again, sir!"

"Please, Mr. Kyle! It is urgent! Lives are in danger!!"

"Aye, sir..."

Spock closed the communicator and they were caught by the transporter beam seconds later. All of the dinos moaned and gasped in shock as Spock and his friends shimmered and vanished right before their eyes.

"_Now_ I've seen _everything!!"_ Topsy mouthed in wide eyed amazement.

-----------------------------------------

Moments later, the forms of Mr. Spock, Scotty and the young Ensign shimmered into existence in The Rocky Canyon of The Mysterious Beyond. Roaring sounds about three hundred yards away got their attention. Spock led the way as they trotted towards the sound.

They soon came upon the sight of the big T-rex known a Red Claw snarling down at Little Foot. Red Claw had Little Foot up against a cliff, and was about to chomp down on him. Little Foot was visibly frightened.

"STUN HIM!" Spock ordered.

Scotty and the Ensign whipped out their phasers, set them on heavy stun, and fired them at the big T-rex. He fell unconscious and went down a few seconds after the phaser beams hit him.

Spock then moved in to check on Little Foot, who was visibly shaken up by the stress of his confrontation with Red Claw and confused by what just happened.

"Are you allright!?" Spock asked him.

"Y...Y-y-yes! What happened!? How did you..."

"I'll explain later! Where is Cera?"

Still shaking, Little Foot shook his head. "... I don't know!"

A cry for "HELP!" not far away made them all turn.

"Stay with him!" Spock ordered as he ran towards the sound of the cry.

A few hundred yards from where Little Foot was, Cera was being set upon by the fast biter Thud. He had her cornered against the canton wall and was bearing down on her.

"HEEEELLLP! SOMEBODY, PLEEEASE!" she cried out.

Thud rumbled a laugh. _"Nobody's going to help you NOW, little morsel!_" He snarled in his native sharptooth "_You will make a fine meal! Prepare to die!"_

Cera let out a wide eyed gasp.

But before Thud could chomp down on her, someone grabbed him by the jaw from behind and pinched his right shoulder. It was Spock! Although Thud was a bit taller and larger than Spock, he was still able to pull him away and apply his neck pinch. Thud let out a shreik before he collapsed to the ground unconscious.

Cera, who had shut her eyes in preparation for her getting eaten, slowly peaked at the scene of Thud lying on the ground motionless, and the sight of Spock standing over her. He raised a questioning eyebrow as Cera remained there speechless for a few moment.

"Whoa!" She breathed as she looked at the still form of Thud again. "I don't know how you were able to knock Thud out like that, but it's something I'd like you to teach me."

"Unfortunately, in my experience, it is not something I am able to teach to non-Vulcans..."

"Hmmm..." was all Cera could say to that.

By this time, Little Foot, Scotty and the Ensign had joined Spock and Cera.

"Are you allright?" Little Foot asked his young threehorn friend.

"Quite all right, thanks to Spock here..."

"Well, looks like these meat eaters won't make a meal out o' these two, today."

"Indeed!" Spock simply said as he opened up the communicator. "Spock to Enterprise..."

---------------------------------------

_Captain's Log, Stardate 6114.5 – Mr. Spock has finally been found! It turns out that Mr. Scott was not joking when he said the dinosaurs he encountered could talk; and since our Universal Translator was programmed with all of Earth's known languages, we're assuming that the dialect spoken by the dinosaurs of The Great Valley must be a long forgotten tribal language of Earth's past. We've made contact with their Leader, a brontosaurus know to them only as "Grandpa Longneck", who's agreed to have everybody on board the Enterprise beam down to The Great Valley for a cultural exchange._

In The Great Valley, Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock and Grandpa Longneck were walking along amongst the various pockets of gathered dinosaur and Enterprise crewmembers. The sounds of the various conversations and interactions wafted up to them.

For instance, they saw Lieutenant Ahura and Yeoman Rand sitting with a female triceratops named Tria, who turned out to be Topsy's mate, while their infant daughter, Tricia, was playing around with them. There was laughter emanating from the group as Tricia was happily playing with them. _That young triceratops is about the size of a Labrador puppy! It's only natural that girls like "puppies" _Kirk happily thought to himself.

Then there was Scotty sitting back with an elder dino who went by the name of "Mr. Thicknose". They were sharing a leaf tray full of sweet bubbles. They weren't able to identify his species yet, but they assumed he must be a cousin to the triceratops, as they looked so much alike.

"Being the oldest dino in this valley, I know a lot of things..."

"That's not surprising, since ya say that ya're the oldest." Scotty said after he swallowed the sweet bubble he was chewing on.

"I'd be interesting to hear what _you_ know..."

Scotty smiled. "I doubt ya'll even _begin_ to understand what I _know. _Being an Engineer, I know a _lot _of things..."

"Try me..." Mr. Thicknose pressed.

"All right! Ya asked for it!" Scotty answered as he threw another sweet bubble in his mouth.

Mr. Chekov was sitting with Petrie and Ducky's mom.

"Now let me get this straight: Your kind won't appear on this planet until 70 million years from now!?" Petrie's mom asked.

Chekov nodded with a smile. "That's cworrect! And _my_ people, the Russians, will be the lweaders of the entire human race! We will crweate most of the theeings that are a part of our evweryday lives!"

"Unbelievable!" Ducky's mom said in awe. "Tell me more!"

Kirk just smiled and shook his head.

Then they came upon good ol' Dr. McCoy who was taking scans of Topsy with his medical tricorder.

"I still refuse to accept your findings! They're obviously _wrong!!"_

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR DINOSAUR MIND!!? The readings I took are quite conclusive! Look at 'em yourself!!"

"I don't_ need_ to look at them to know that they're _flawed!_ There's NO WAY that flattooth and sharptooth were EVER once a part of the same species!!"

"BY GOD, MAN! Why do you insist on denying the truth!!? THAT'S CRAZY!!"

"No, YOU'RE the one that's CRAZY! And who is this "God" fellow, anyway!?"

Kirk chuckled. "I've never seen him happier!"

"Mm hmmm!" Spock nodded.

"Nor I Topsy..." Grandpa Longneck chimed in with a smile. "So how long are you and your people going to stay here for?" He then asked Kirk.

"Starfleet Command gave us two weeks..." Kirk said as he looked up to the big longneck.

"Plenty of time for you to learn all about us, and us of you... But what of your 'Prime Directive'?"

Kirk smiled up at him. "I don't think there's anything in The Prime Directive that goes against cultural exchanges... which is what this is, after all... Wouldn't you say, Spock?"

"Indeed not, Captain!"

A short distance away, they saw Grandma Longneck giving some of the Archeologists' children a ride on her back. She looked very happy as sounds of laughter from the children drifted in towards them. "This'll be a mission they'll_ never _forget..." Kirk grinned.

He then looked up at Grandpa Longneck. "I just wanna thank you for everything you and your people are doing for us."

Grandpa Longneck bent down to be at eye level with him. "Think nothing of it! We are your friends now, and what our friends for?"

Then the big dino moved in to give Kirk a cheek rub. Kirk was caught off guard, though. He let out a cry as he was knocked to the ground. After a moment, Kirk started laughing. Grandpa Longneck joined in the merriment. Kirk was still laughing as Spock helped him back to his feet.

A short distance away, Little Foot and his gang were all gathered observing the activity going on around them. Little Foot noticed that Petrie has his winged arms crossed in front of him, and was gazing out in front of him with a neutral expression.

"Petrie, what are you doing?" Little Foot his flyer friend.

"I adopting Spock's supresion of emotion technique. I think my feelings are supressed."

"BOO!" Cera shouted as she snuck up behind him.

"AAH!" Petrie cried out as he ran behind Little Foot, shaking his fear.

Everybody laughed heartily as Petrie got a somber expression on his facial features.

At the end of the two weeks, the Enterprise and the entire crew broke orbit and headed towards the sun to undertake their slingshot back to the 23rd Century, where Starfleet Command was anxiously awaiting their reports on Earth's past. It would be a report the Admirals in charge will _never_ forget, or even _believe!_


End file.
